1. Field
The present disclosure relates generally to aircraft and, in particular, to aeronautical information display systems in aircraft. Still more particularly, the present disclosure relates to a method and apparatus for presenting aeronautical information on a computer display system in an aircraft.
2. Background
In flying from one location to another location, aircrafts commonly follow a pre-planned route. The information for the route is referred to as a flight plan. A flight plan includes basic information, such as departure and arrival points, estimated time en route, alternate airports, and other suitable types of information.
Additionally, this information, as well as other information, is used by the pilot of an aircraft during the flight. Other information includes, for example, information, such as taxi routes, a take-off runway, terminal procedures, and/or other suitable aircrafts.
Information used to operate an aircraft may be displayed in the form of a chart. When the aircraft is in the air, a chart of the terrain is displayed. A location of the aircraft relative to the terrain is displayed on the chart. This location also may include a direction in which the aircraft is facing. In addition to the terrain, information, such as waypoints, very high frequency (VHF) omni-directional radio range frequencies, a route of the aircraft, airports, cities, and/or other suitable information are displayed.
While an aircraft is on the ground, a chart of the airport is often displayed with a location of the aircraft on the chart. The chart of the airport includes objects, such as runways, taxiways, terminals, buildings, communication frequencies, operation hours for the airport, and other suitable information.
The information used by the pilot to operate the aircraft is often displayed on a single display on the flight deck of the aircraft. Menus and other user controls may be present to allow a pilot to select more details about a desired piece of information.
The large amount of information that is displayed requires the pilot and other flight crew members to increase their concentration to identify the information needed to operate the aircraft. Depending upon the amount of information and the number of user inputs needed to obtain the information desired, the amount of time and effort needed to identify information for a flight may increase. As a result, more than one flight crew member may be needed to perform different operations during the flight.
Therefore, it would be advantageous to have a method and apparatus that takes into account one or more of the issues discussed above, as well as possibly other issues.